United Nations, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that more women and children have been used as suicide bombers in northeast Nigeria in the first five months of this year than during the whole of 2014.

As of May 2015, there have been 27 attacks and in at least three-quarters of these incidents, women and children were reportedly used to carry out the attacks, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

UNICEF remains concerned that the increasing use of children as suicide bombers could lead to children being perceived as potential threats, and stresses that they are first and foremost victims not perpetrators, Dujarric said.

Three-quarters of the attacks were carried out by female bombers, some as young as seven, UNICEF said.